FRUSTRATED RESIDENTS LOOK FOR WAYS TO END VIOLENCE IN CHARLESTON

Levi Frazier and his wife Ruth are tired of hearing the news - 14 killings
in the city of Charleston last year, many not too far from their home on
the peninsula.

It makes them nervous and a little afraid.

"It's not right," he said. "There's no call for people to be killing one
another."

The retired couple joined some 200 Charleston residents, police officers,
politicians, preachers, students and neighborhood leaders to discuss
solutions to crime - in the wake of the city's bloodiest year since 1994 -
during a spirited public meeting Thursday night at Burke High School. The
meeting produced a blizzard of suggestions, some aimed at residents, others
at police, many at society as a whole. If there was a common theme, it was
that something - anything - needs to be done to address the factors behind
a spurt of crime in late 2001 that left several city residents dead and
many others unsettled and fearful.

"Apathy is a killer," said Leonard Higgins, head of the
Maryville/Ashleyville neighborhood association in West Ashley.

Many of the speakers urged that residents work closely with police and not
turn a blind eye toward illegal drug use.

Charleston Police Chief Reuben Greenberg and Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.
noted that most of the murders involved drugs. If police could eliminate
the drug trade, crime and killings would fall as well, but many residents
are reluctant to provide tips and information about drugs, they said.

"If people's houses are broken into and people know who broke into their
house, we get cooperation," Greenberg said. "It appears when it comes to
illegal narcotics that nobody knows what's going on."

Riley said part of the problem with combating the drug trade is that many
regard it as a "victimless crime," because both buyer and seller are
willing participants. But the drug trade inevitably generates more serious
crimes that terrorize innocent citizens and neighborhoods, he said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, illegal drug use is not a victimless crime," Riley
said. "Each and every citizen of our community is a victim."

Charleston City Councilman James Lewis credited police for stepping up
efforts recently to crack down on obvious drug dealers on street corners.

"They're doing their part," he said. "Now we have to do our part."

But other speakers said the responsibility to change things also falls
beyond the neighborhoods most affected by crime.

Arthur Lawrence, head of the Westside Neighborhood Association downtown,
showed several slides contrasting the condition of his neighborhood with
wealthier sections of the city. He suggested that largely black areas don't
always get their fair share of resources or attention, citing delays in the
construction of the new Burke High School as well as other examples.

"We're always last on the totem pole. We get everything last," he said.
"The only job we get is hamburger flipper or sheet flipper."

Burke student Amber Pinckney said many would feel more comfortable working
with police if officers seemed more approachable. She suggested officers
pay more friendly visits to schools to the break the ice and show a
different side of the relationship between police and black residents.

"We need to see that you're not just here to hurt us or put us in jail,"
she said.

Attitudes on the fight against drugs were split as well. Some said the
policy of focusing on the supply with law enforcement activities isn't
working, that the way to stop the problem is to dry up demand.

Some questioned why dealers are targeted, but users often are ignored.
Others said the only problem is that enforcement efforts aren't targeting
the top of the chain.

"We are killing the wrong people. We need to kill some of the big fellows
in high places that are flying these drugs in here," said the Rev. Willis
T. Goodwin.

Several speakers said society needs to place more emphasis on family and
religion.

"Those things are missing in a segment of our society out there to whom
doing well in school is not cool ... but selling drugs is cool," said
Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon. "That's what we're up against."

Finally, many said actions are worth more than words.

The Rev. Joe Darby said Charleston residents need to get involved with
their communities in tangible ways.

"That means more than catchy slogans, like 'Just say no,' 'Stop the
violence,' 'Leave no child behind.' That means nothing to someone with a
gun in their pocket," he said.

Burke teacher Henry Darby told the audience about a technique he used in
his North Charleston neighborhood of Liberty Hill, which he said was
regarded as a drug-infested area. Residents ignored drug dealers but
harassed buyers who came into the neighborhood by writing down license
plate numbers and writing letters to the cars' owners that threatened to
inform their employer.

"If you are really concerned about this problem, you need to go to the
streets," Darby said.